Combinatorial weighing method and apparatus therefor

A combinatorial weighing apparatus for finding the weights of articles carried in a plurality of buckets, selecting the combination of articles whose overall weight is equal or closest to a preset target weight, and releasing the selected articles from the buckets which carry them, said apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of buckets for carrying articles to be weighed;
• a conveyor for conveying each of the buckets;
• a weight sensor for sequentially measuring the weight of each bucket conveyed to said sensor by said conveyor;
• a first memory comprising a shift register for storing the empty weight of each bucket measured, when empty, by said weight sensor;
• a second memory comprising a shift register for storing the total weight of each bucket and the articles introduced into said bucket, said total weight of the bucket and articles being measured by said weight sensor when said bucket is carrying the articles;
• subtracting means for producing a signal indicative of the weight of the articles in each bucket by subtracting from said total weight of the bucket and its articles the empty weight of the bucket;
• and
• best combination computing means for selecting and delivering, on the basis of the measured weights of the articles, the combination of articles whose overall weight is equal or closest to the preset target weight.